


my wait is you (and i won't go on)

by metsuryuogi



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/M, Slow Burn, let's like.... ignore winifred, post 3x05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 12:01:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21968980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metsuryuogi/pseuds/metsuryuogi
Summary: 'Just this once she would allow him to open her pages and read her carefully.Can’t we just be friends?'
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Comments: 11
Kudos: 162





	my wait is you (and i won't go on)

**Author's Note:**

> hello, again! just a short one-shot for now. I want to thank everyone for the amazing (entirely unexpected??) feedback on my last fic "that's the kind of love (I've been dreaming of)." To be honest I had a sort of sequel fic for it partly written but it was lost! I will try to write something longer soon as I'm on winter break for a while, so please bear with me in the meantime!
> 
> also!! basically everything up to 3x05 is canon but then I kinda, went a different way.

Anne watched a most amusing sight take place from her seat by the window in her room, peering across her domain of Green Gables as if she were the true embodiment of Princess Cordelia herself on that fine spring day. 

Gilbert Blythe was pacing back and forth at the edge of their property. What he was attempting, however, she had no idea in the slightest. He seemed to be arguing with himself by the way his mouth was moving with intent and his eyebrows were furrowed. Every couple of seconds he would nod aggressively and start towards the house, making only a few meager steps, before stopping right in his tracks as if some invisible force was gluing him to the ground. 

Anne— suddenly feeling exceedingly uncomfortable watching what seemed to be a private moment between him, and well, _himself_ — stood from her declared throne and stomped down the stairs, making her way to the front door. 

“Gilbert!” She shouted, effectively startling him. She couldn’t see him so clearly from this distance, but he was shifting his feet and staring at her with bewildered eyes. 

In the last two years, they had become quite a pair of friends, and she felt so grateful for his presence in her life. Of course, they shared a good bicker still every once and a while. Last week, he had accidentally spoiled the ending of the latest novel she had been devouring, believing her to be rereading it; it wasn’t very often he beat her to a book. She blew into a fit of rage that lasted the better half of an hour—leaving him standing awkwardly in her stormy wake. She ignored him bitterly for a whole day after that until he stood at her porch stubbornly, refusing to leave until she would listen to his apology. 

Anne was many things, but that did not include being a fool. She knew what was behind his longing glances, how the women around town would claim that _“Gilbert Blythe is days away from courting that orphan Anne Shirley,”_ with disappointed and sour tones. She knew he was almost out of usable excuses to place lingering touches onto her hands that left her burning for hours. 

But she also knew that if she gave in, gave into those secret unspoken feelings that she had felt herself slip into desperately during dance practice, she would somehow find a way to ruin their perfect agreement of friendship that they had wordlessly entered into that day outside of the Charlottetown church. 

_‘Tragical romance and all?’_

_‘Remains to be seen.’_

Besides, Gilbert was hardly her romantic ideal. He made too many jokes (even if they left her gasping for air), he had awful, unruly curls (even though she found herself wanting to smooth them over with her fingers), he much preferred logic over poetry (even though it made him grounded and reliable), and worst of all— his love would never last (even if something inside her told her it was everlasting). 

When she reached his place past the fence, he gave her a stiff wave and a small chuckle. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Blythe?” He did visit her often, this wasn’t new, but obviously, he had something on his mind. 

“Well, the day was so beautiful and I felt you’d be the perfect company to go about admiring it.” She internally groaned at how well he knew her. Of course, she woke up this morning to the sun shining heavenly beams onto her bed and her chores happened to be light, so she had already been planning the ways in which she could celebrate the day. 

“I think a stroll would be agreeable, don’t you?” Though it was posed as a question, she didn’t wait for his response and began walking past him, turning lightly after a couple of steps to check that he was indeed following behind her. 

“I absolutely agree,” Gilbert caught up and gently took his place closer to her side, close enough that his fingers gently brushed against hers. “I would have suggested it first, but just two days ago we spent the day at the Orchard, per my request, so I wanted you to have your pick.” 

“Oh, but spending the day at the Orchard is hardly a chore on my part, Gilbert. The blossoms of spring amongst the trees provide so much scope, don’t you think?” 

“Yes, I do think that’s true.” There was something hesitant about his words, straining against his voice in a way that reminded her of how he sounded only a year ago, rather than his recently acquired deep timbre. 

He had matured rapidly, and sometimes she’d forget he was two years her senior, but then she would notice his broad shoulders and the way he could easily look down to her and be reminded of the fact he was now eighteen. She wondered if he’d prefer more friends his age, how did he not think her immature? 

“Gilbert,” she started, worried about how to word her question, as she was unsure what she even wanted to ask. “Do you actually like being friends with me? I’ve been awful mean to you in the past…” she drifted off, it was easy for her to get embarrassed when she thought about the slate incident. 

He sputtered out a small snort, before bellowing out a laugh that echoed across the lane, scaring a few other pedestrians away. Anne’s cheeks burned and she was suddenly unable to look him in the eye, so she marched past him, stomping her feet excessively. 

“I am _so_ glad I could thoroughly entertain you today with my _silly_ and— and _childish_ questions. If that’s all then I will see you at school tomorrow, where you’ll be sure to stay far away from me if you know what’s good for you.” 

Gilbert tripped over his feet to step out and stop her passionate tirade, his eyes were wide with confusion. They always seemed to end up in this sort of conundrum, starting perfectly content with one another, maybe laughing, maybe engaged in a scholarly debate, but somehow ended up red in the face and snapping at one another with equal fire. 

“Anne, I didn’t mean to offend you in the slightest, my apologies.” He stared at her for a short couple of seconds. She hated how he always seemed to be trying to read her, there was a reason she didn’t allow herself to be an open book. 

“It’s just that… I cherish our friendship immensely. You have no idea how happy it made me when we began to talk as the close friends I always imagined we could be. I don’t know what spurred your daft question but I assure you I’ve never even asked myself anything like that.” 

He always did this— what _this_ was she wasn’t quite sure herself, but it felt like comfort, assurance, something more that she couldn’t place her finger on. 

“Gilbert Blythe, you and I are kindred spirits.” She smiled. She never really thought of them that way, friends yes, chums, yes, but kindred spirits? That was something she could easily say about Diana, Matthew, and Cole, but why could she not see it in Gilbert when it was so obviously in front of her?

“Kindred spirits…” he pondered over the term. His eyes turned to face the sky, a small smile graced his face so elegantly, she believed he truly belonged in this moment with her. He stepped forward slightly, and her heart picked up at his close proximity. 

She didn’t start to feel scared until he reached out and grabbed her hand. This time there was no lame excuse, there was no accident. He was holding her hand and he was looking at her with those romantic eyes that Ruby so desperately desired and it felt all-consuming like she was drowning hopelessly in those pools of hazel and she was _scared._

Anne would never be afraid that Gilbert would hurt her, but that was the problem, she was afraid that he _wouldn’t_ hurt her. That he wouldn’t hurt her yet she would hurt him, they would fight, they would hate each other. He would resent her, and she would do the same. Her eyes looked up to meet his, and the message came across so clearly, just this once she would allow him to open her pages and read her carefully. 

_'Can’t we just be friends?'_

He opened his mouth to speak, maybe to defy her, to tell her the words he had been holding in for too long, but he stopped himself, and then started again. 

“I think you’re my best friend, Anne.” 

The words were platonic, yet they came across as the most romantic thing she had ever heard. He had read her so perfectly, he had known her heart so intimately then; he had molded his confession into one that she could accept graciously and reciprocated. 

The rest could come later. 

While Diana was her dearest bosom friend, she knew that true friends, true kindest spirits were not as scarce as she had once believed. They took form in so many ways, and each one had given her different feelings and taught her different things. Gilbert had taught her of loyalty and honesty, of passion and ambition. 

“You’re my best friend, too.” She meant it. Of course, she meant it more than anything she had ever spoken aloud. He smiled lightly, a little sad, let go of her hand and began walking ahead of her. 

“Anne,” his voice was slow, but he turned around to flash her that boyish smile full of mischief. “how would you feel about pranking Bash with me? It seems he’s spent far too many days without me completely annoying him and I truly believe that’s a problem.” 

With that, Anne knew they were going to be okay. She returned his smile, unable to stop the laughter from spilling out of her mouth. 

“I would be delighted.” 

One day she would let him speak those words he wanted to say so honestly and openly. She would allow him to hold her hand and caress her cheek softly as a devoted promise whispered for only two young lovers to hear. 

‘ _Just let me catch up to you properly.’_ said the brush of her pinky finger against his. Gilbert could wait for her for eternity with that slight motion, it gave him hope that surely, surely one day she would be ready. 

**Author's Note:**

> In the books, Gilbert is quite obvious and Anne definitely realizes, so that is something I wished for a little bit from them in the show, so this was sort of my happy medium between the show and book for the failed confession. 
> 
> Please let me know what you think; my twitter is @pyronatsus and my tumblr is @natsujpg... I would be so happy to have some awae friends!


End file.
